Social Media’s Impact on Children

Articles Contributed by Graduate Students as part of their course work within the Master of Education in Counseling Program at Bloomsburg University

by Victoria Shive

We are all clearly aware of the disadvantages that social networking can potentially have on people. While the use of social networking can have its advantages, research has suggested that social networking can become problematic. The disadvantages of social networking are very similar for children and adults; however, children lack the cognitive development to deal with the issues that arise.

Both Facebook and Twitter require all of their users to be at least 13 years of age, but these requirements are often not followed. Nearly everywhere we go today, children are seen glued to their smart phones. They are tweeting and constantly posting status updates on social media. They are posting their exact location, who they are with and taking pictures to post for everyone to see. Children are constantly looking at their phones and updating what they are doing ‘play by play’. Instead of genuinely enjoying an experience, children are too concerned about stopping whatever it is they are doing, taking a ‘selfie’ and posting their location so that everyone else knows that they are having a good time rather than just enjoying the moment with the people they are with. Doesn’t that seem a little contradictory?

There are several concerns that come to mind when considering this ‘Selfie’ epidemic in our young people. Online users have perfected the ‘selfie’ angle. By holding their phones at a high angle, they can make their eyes look larger and their cheekbones more defined. Research has suggested that this can be an empowering act. It allows users to control their image. They then receive ‘likes’ and ‘comments’ that provide their self-esteem a boost. So, what’s wrong with that? Psychologist Jill Weber Ph.D. suggests that there is a great danger when your self-esteem is tied to the feedback you receive from posting ‘selfies’. What happens when other’s then criticize your photos?

There has been an increase of young adults under the age of 25 who are getting cosmetic surgery. Research suggests that social networking sites may be to blame. Many teens are asking for cosmetic surgery as gifts because unfortunately, the self-esteem of our youth seems to rely solely on physical appearances.

Another issue is the safety of children who are posting their locations. They are making themselves prime targets for predators. A parent may feel more at ease by controlling a child’s privacy settings, but that child’s ‘friend’ may not have privacy settings and may tag others in photos. Even worse, the predator can be someone that your child or your child’s friend knows. Bottom line, posting locations on social media sites is never a wise idea.

Aside from safety concerns, this epidemic is taking away from real life social interactions. As a consequence, children are not learning empathy. When children are constantly posting their status updates and tweets, they are not learning how to properly interact with their peers. Children are using social networking sites to vent and complain rather than trying to express these emotions in person. Studies suggest that today’s children are not only underdeveloped in empathy, they also lack conflict resolution skills. Children can ‘unfriend’ someone by a simple click. This cheats children the opportunity to learn how to appropriately resolve conflicts. This is problematic in children’s social development. With that being said, social networking increases the risk of cyber-bullying and self-esteem issues. This can occur without the parent’s knowledge or awareness and such cyber-bullying has led to an increase in suicides.

As adults, we realize that posts on social networking sites have the potential of becoming more of a competition than anything else. Friends post about all the wonderful highlights in their lives to make it appear that they live fabulous lives… with most of those ‘highlights’ being embellished upon and therefore not genuine. People try to acquire many friends so that they feel popular. This can cause others to feel as if t their life is inadequate and that it doesn’t measure up to the lives of their ‘friends’. This causes people to have negative feelings about their own lives, which consequently damage their self-esteem.

What can you do as a parent?

Discourage young child from having a social networking account.

Encourage your child to focus on being a kid and to enjoy “real life”.

Talk with your children about cyber-bullying and online predators.

Set limits with your children about what can be shared online and what shouldn’t be shared.

Set screen limits with cellphones, computers and even television.

Boost your child’s self-esteem with traits that matter such as their character rather than physical appearance.